City Council to revisit Cottonwood Ave. cul de sac at Monday meeting

LACONIA — A request for a rehearing between the Taylor Community and their Cottonwood Avenue neighbors, changes to city ordinance that could allow a local family to keep their pet goats, two property sales, and a proposal for water main replacement will go before the Laconia City Council at its Aug. 22 meeting.

Request for Cottonwood cul de sac rehearing

The Taylor Community has requested a rehearing from the city council on the matter of the Cottonwood Avenue cul de sac. The council voted to lay out a public highway over the cul de sac in July. In a letter to the council, Taylor’s legal team argued in part that “the information before the council was insufficient” to support its finding of a public need to make the cul de sac a public road. 

Cottonwood residents asked the council to lay out a public road over the cul de sac. Taylor, who built the cul de sac on their property at the end of Cottonwood Avenue, had looked into redeveloping the turnaround to allow for additional property development there. Taylor argued there was insufficient public need to make the cul de sac a public road and that the city had previously demonstrated that it agreed with this stance. 

In a public hearing on the matter, Cottonwood residents testified their perception of the cul de sac as central to the safety and functionality of neighborhood traffic. They also voiced complaints against Taylor, who owns several houses in and adjacent to the Cottonwood neighborhood, of filling their once-quiet street with loud maintenance vehicles. Taylor has asserted that they are considerate neighbors who bring additional property value to the entire neighborhood. 

On July 9, the council sided with Cottonwood residents: by making the cul de sac a public road, Taylor is unable to redevelop it. Taylor is asking them to reconsider. The council will weigh whether they feel a rehearing is necessary.

Land sales

An offer to buy Lot 1 of the Lakes Business Park for $165,000 from Steve and Kara Olson of Fat Boy Kole, LLC — also known as Laconia Refrigeration — is before the council as well. The Lakes Business Park Commission voted to approve the sale on July 6. The council will vote whether or not to affirm this vote to sell. 

Councilors will consider another land sale: a group of residents wishes to purchase a community beach lot, acquired by the town through a tax deeding in 1994, at 20 Indian Path on the western shore of Paugus Bay. The property is already deeded for use by these residents, who live on Harglen Lane, Hillcroft Road, Bobby’s Way and limited properties on Hilliard Road. They are in the process of creating a new entity to be known as Paugus Bay Beach Association. 

City Manager Scott Myers’ report recommends that the city sell the property to the association for $1. Myers’ report notes that there is “no purpose for the City to retain ownership of the parcel because of the uniqueness of the circumstances regarding the deeded ownership by multiple properties in this area,” and that transferring ownership to the residents will allow them to maintain and update the beach themselves. The council will not vote decisively on this proposal, only to schedule a public hearing. 

Langley Cove water main

There will be a first reading of a motion to accept payment from residents of the Langley Cove Development for the city to replace its water main, a project required by the conditional approval of the development by the Planning Board in 2018.

Per the proposal, the city Public Works Department would perform the work to replace the 1,900-foot water main on Weirs Boulevard in lieu of the developer performing this work, and the Langley Cove developer will pay the city $1,044,400.

Pet goat zoning issue

There will be a first reading of a proposed amendment to city zoning regarding sheep and goats kept as pets. Elizabeth Gleason, whose daughter is very allergic to traditional animals, and her family have raised two dwarf goats as pets. Zoning laws about livestock, if enforced, would require the family to get rid of their two goats. The Gleasons, and many of their neighbors, assert that the animals are an addition, not a nuisance, to their neighborhood. 

City zoning codes do not allow single family residences such as the Gleasons’ to keep livestock. Their request for a variance, or exception, was denied by the zoning board out of concern for setting a precedent that would allow future requests to keep chickens. A change in the ordinance’s terminology to create a distinction between pets and farm animals would fall under the purview of the council. 

The council voted at the previous meeting to send the matter to committee, where the wording on the ordinance could be worked out. The council is not voting on this matter, only scheduling a hearing at this time. 

Other votes

The council will vote on approval to fill four current ward selectperson vacancies. Ward selectpeople are among the city’s election officials. The council will vote on the approval of Rick Wilson, Robert Harrington, Jane LaRoche, Ruth O’Hara as selectpersons for wards 1, 2, 3 and 5, respectively. 

The council will also vote on street performer guidelines, the allocation of ARPA funds for previously identified projects and parking and traffic orders for the upcoming Timberman Triathlon as well as the Belknap Mill Society’s Sock Hop.